Red Rufus
Red Rufus is a Hawklord that answered Drew Ferran's call at Tor Raptor, becoming his companion. Gender: Male Weretype: Hawk Status: Deceased Fate: He was stabbed in the heart by a Wylderman Appears In: Shadow of the Hawk, Nest of Serpents Characteristics Red Rufus is a middle aged man, bald and with a large scar on the left side of his face. His Hawk form is also red feathered and rough-looking, with some scars underneath the plumage. He fights using bow and arrow and wields a pair of short swords in close quarters. Personality Red Rufus, true to his name, is a rather hot-blooded and short-tempered person, who slowly becomes loyal to the young Werewolf. Red Rufus is a person who is capable of holding a grudge, since he wasn't convinced on assisting the Werejackals and still saw them as enemies. He has a rather dark sense of humor, but can also be caring in his own way. He also advised Drew that there would be times when he would have to do nasty things in order to save many, like killing and unarmed enemy. History A former scout on Wergar's army who fought on the conquest of Omir, he was exiled after Baron Gryffin lost his wings and King Leopold forbade their Therianthropy. Shadow of the Hawk Red Rufus is first seen at the Hawklords tomb, believing Drew was a thief working for Lord Rook, nearly killing the Werewolf, but he was stopped by Carsten. His intent of killing Drew returned when Baum brought Baron Griffyn's corpse, but after the other Hawklords bowed to Drew, recognizing him as Wergar's heir, he also bowed. He and the other Avianthropes fought to recover Windfell and kill the traitor Skeer. Red Rufus was one of the 33 Hawklords that answered the call at Tor Raptor, and he led the opposition in the matter of helping the Werejackals, but after Count Carsten and Baron Baum decided that they needed to help Lady Shah, Baron Griffyn's daughter and heiress, and after Drew gave an inspiring speech on how the other therianthropes had helped him, he and the more reluctant Werehawks gave their loyalty to the Werewolf. Just as he was about to carry Drew to Azra, since everyone else had already departed, Drew saw the injured Lord Milo and he convinced him to fly towards Stormdale to help the Staglords. Nest of Serpents When he and Drew arrived, they noticed that the Staglords were severely outnumbered, Drew convinced him to train the peasants as a militia in order to prepare for the battle against the Werecrows and The Rat King, despite his resentment towards the Staglords. While he told Drew that the training was going well, he doubted the peasants could hold and asked Drew if he would be capable of killing a defenseless foe if it meant saving more lives, and when the Wolf told him he couldn't, he said that killing is the only way of dealing with killers. When the battle began, he left without telling anyone and Drew thought he had abandoned them, only to return with Count Croke as hostage. He got upset at the old werecrow spitefulness towards the merciful Werewolf. Since the Crow was unwilling to surrender, he fought in the air against the other Crowlords, but he couldn't be everywhere, so Drew was forced to use Count Croke as leverage, threatening to kill him in front of his sons. Unknown to Drew, Magister Wilhelm convinced Red Rufus to kill Count Croke, blaming the Ratlord's soldiers, leading the battle in favor of the defenders of Stormdale. In the aftermath of the battle, Rufus told Drew the truth and the Wolf wished he had kept it a secret. During the battle one of his wings was broken, and even with his therianthropy healing, it would take him several days before he could fly properly, since he had refused aid. When Drew found out that Brackenholme was on fire, Red Rufus decided to accompany him, constantly struggling with his mount, and even Drew had to save him from a poisonous plant. After sometime traveling, he was the first to notice that Lord Milo had followed them, and he believed the young Staglord would only slow them down, although Drew believed he was being thoughtful towards Milo in a way. He usually scouted through the forest, noticing the Wyldermen hunting Stirga, killing the pursuers, and the dying Romari told them about the take over at Brackenholme. He, Drew and Milo managed to disguise themselves as Wyldermen, entering into the enemy's territory practically unnoticed. The moment Drew realized it had started raining and the deceit wouldn't last long, he and Drew draw their weapons and transformed, killing several Wyldermen, but they were utterly surrounded. He used his wings to keep some of the savages at bay, helping Drew climb the Great Oak, just as Milo, Captain Harker, Yuzhnik and several others arrived to help them. Still surrounded, the old Hawklord was caught by surprise when Lord Milo got in the way of a Wyldermen's arrow, with only the breastplate saving his life, just as the wolfs arrived to help the survivors of Brackenholme. In the aftermath of the battle, Drew and Whitley went to see Red Rufus' body, who was stabbed by a Wylderman's spear near the heart and eventually died of his injuries, just as the Romari appeared to scatter the savages. The Wolf told the Bear that despite everything, he would miss him and that he kept his temper until the end.Category:CharactersCategory:MaleCategory:WerehawkCategory:Deceased CharactersCategory:Protagonists